AFC Divisional Playoff
(4) Jacksonville Jaguars at (1) Kansas City Chiefs
Jaguars: Wow that is all I can say. When a team is down by 27 points at the half, you throw the towel in on them, right? I know I was ready to as that game was going on because they were terrible in the first half. Also, give the Los Angeles Chargers all the credit in the world because the secondary was able to adjust from their regular season matchup. They played zone against the Jacksonville receivers and sat each time the receivers were cutting on their routes. The one thing we should all remember is no lead is safe in our league, plain and simple. We’ve seen a 25-point lead get blown in the Super Bowl and just a few weeks ago in December, a 33-point lead was erased which is the largest lead blown in NFL history. You talk about a game being a tale of two halves, that’s exactly what this was in Florida on Saturday night. Trevor Lawrence threw four interceptions all in the first half and looked completely out of sync. Then came the second half and he grew up putting his team on his back. As much as the Quarterback is going to get credit for this incredible comeback, can we give their defense just as much credit as we would Trevor? After giving up 27 first half points, the Jaguars defense also stepped it up and held that electric offense to three points. One round is down and the next is set to begin. They will visit the top seed in the AFC on Saturday afternoon.
Chiefs: “They’ll take a step back”. “Patrick Mahomes will take a step back and will be a different Quarterback”. “Tyreek Hill’s absence will hurt this team”. That was everything the “experts” said about them after all the off-season moves transpired in their own division, which was a lot. The Chargers roster on paper looked Super Bowl bound, the Broncos were ready to contend with Russell Wilson and the Raiders acquired Davante Adams from the Green Bay Packers. Fast forward to now. The Chargers are Cancun or Cabo bound, the Broncos were consistently bad this season and the Raiders, don’t you get me started on that reality show of a franchise. Everyone I listed is looking up at the team that won the AFC West for the seventh consecutive season, and it all starts with number 15, Patrick Mahomes. He’s the best Quarterback in our league right now and it’s not even close at this point. I see a more mature Quarterback and despite losing a key weapon offensively, he hasn’t missed a beat. He spreads the ball around more which keeps defenses guessing and on their toes. Since Patrick took over as the starting Quarterback, the Chiefs have not only won the division each year, but they also clinched one of the top two seeds in the AFC each year and advanced to the conference title game. I still picked them to win their division due to the simple fact they have the best player and coach in the West. Mahomes is also the consensus favorite to win league MVP for the second time in his career. They will look to advance to the AFC Title Game for the fifth consecutive season.
Jaguars X-Factor: Travon Walker– The rookie and the number one pick in last Spring’s NFL Draft! He’s paid off for the Jaguars and I can’t wait to see him further develop in the future. Travon is uber athletic and makes his presence felt in more ways than one. He plays wide off the ball when he’s in his stance and runs downhill. It doesn’t matter who’s lined up in front of him, he’ll find a way to get to where he wants and when he wants. Travon’s pursuit of the Quarterback impresses me so much because he never stops.
Chiefs X-Factor: Kadarius Toney– The Chiefs acquired him from the New York Giants hoping to add another weapon for Mahomes. I was on board with this move when it happened. Kadarius is a versatile weapon that can do so many things for this offense such as work the slot, take handoffs on jet sweeps and he’s that one weapon that can consistently take the top off the zone when the opportunity presents itself. Andy Reid will dive into his playbook to give Kadarius the best opportunity to make a play for this offense.
Final Thoughts: The best weekend of football is here and if it’s anything how it was last year, we should be in for another great weekend! These two met in week nine and the Chiefs won to the tune of four touchdown passes from Mahomes. This will be the second meeting between Trevor Lawrence and Patrick Mahomes. I said it last week and I will say it again, the Jaguars must run the football and slow the game down in their advantage. Etienne can give the Chiefs defense a lot of problems as both a runner and receiver. On defense, two things must be on the game plan when playing the Chiefs. The first is applying pressure on Mahomes and hitting him behind the Line of Scrimmage and the other is doubling Travis Kelce. Defenses do all they can to limit him, and they still can’t stop him. The Chiefs must get their own running game going to throw off the Jacksonville Linebackers from hanging back to deal with Kelce.
Prediction: Chiefs 31, Jaguars 21
